Eclosed 3x3 chick brooder?

[BigHead]

Can you enclose a 3x3 pen completely or do the chicks need ventilation? If so, how much?

 

[Ridgerunner]

For a brooder you need some ventilation but not much. You don’t have to worry about moisture building up because it’s going to be warmer than freezing so you don’t have to worry about frostbite. You can get some ammonia from their poop decomposing but ammonia is lighter than air. With just a tiny opening up high gravity will force it out of the brooder and replace it with fresh air.

With my brooder in the coop it’s pretty wide open in the summer and warmer weather. There is a draft guard but hardware cloth above that. In the winter I wrap it really well with plastic to keep the heat in, especially the end I heat. But the other end isn’t wrapped quite so well so there are spaces for the ammonia to escape. For ammonia it really doesn't take much if the opening is up high.

 

[donrae]

If the lid/top is open, or something air can circulate through like wire, you should be good to go. I brood a lot of chicks in a galvanized livestock trough, with expanded metal on the top to keep the chicks in. or were you talking about the top being solid, also?

 

[BigHead]

@donrae yes all sides completely covered could I leave a little crack in the door about a inch? Would that work?